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T.I. Wants You to Call Him Old

A chat with the 36-year-old rapper about being an elder statesman in an industry full of young guns.

At only 36 years old—and only looking marginally older than he did when he first burst on the scene—T.I. is still a grizzled veteran of the rap industry. It’s been over 15 years since the Atlanta native’s debut album came out, and well over a decade since he ascended into our eardrums with singles such as “24s” and “Be Easy.”

In a chat with GQ—which came shortly after he interrupted a chat with Kevin Hart—T.I. made it clear that he appreciates his elder statesman status in the rap industry. T.I.’s success has certainly opened up other opportunities for him outside of music, from owning clubs in Atlanta to nabbing a supporting role in Marvel’s Ant-Man.

Like Hart, T.I. was in New York to sign headphones on behalf of Muzik, who got T.I. on board with their smart headphones after its CEO proved to the rapper “those motherfuckers could do all the things they said they can do.” (Among those things include getting sports scores by touching the side of the cans.)

Chatting with GQ while waving to a horde of fans snapping photos outside the window of a Brookstone in Times Square, T.I. discussed how the rap industry has changed throughout his career, life as a celebrity and more.

GQ: First things first, who do you have to talk to for us to get another one of those Def Jam fighting video games?T.I.: [Laughs] Russell Simmons! Uncle Russ.

Those games were incredible.
Right on.

I’m pretty sure my brother used to know all the words to “Rubber Band Man.” How many years ago was that now—10, 12?Trap Muzik dropped 13 years ago.

How has rap changed since then?
It has become a lot less, how can I say this, it isn’t as officiated as it once was. In order to get in the game at one time, you had to go to a gatekeeper, and the gatekeeper had to give you a nod and say, “Yeah, you deserve to be playing on this professional level.” You had to put an extensive amount of funds into yourself and get your own product, get your own studio time, learn the business yourself and build numbers. It was all about retail, how much product you could actually move. Now it’s all about how many people you can get to click on your particular song, but for free. You know what I’m saying? The dynamics of how we monetize music has changed, which has changed how people are able to enter the game and what the standard of success is.

How much has your music changed, if at all?
Man, you have to be able to make adjustments with the times, but maintain the fundamentals that people grew to you or attracted people to you in the first place. That’s what we have to do. We found ways to make trap music but make it updated.

Okay, so I don’t want to say your old or anything—
You know what? I’m older. And I heard from a very wise man, “There’s only two choices in life son, get old or die young.” You know what I’m saying? Die young? Fuck that. I want you to say I’m old.

Well then as an older person, how do you feel about the newer wave of guys like Yachty or Chance and that new group of guys coming up?
In any industry, when the market expands, it creates a demand for other versions of it. Right now there’s a market for a certain version of this that may be different from the market that existed when I was first coming out. Even if I don’t agree with it, I don’t want to be so critical of it that it alienates anyone. It’s just some of it is more my taste than others, and I’ll just leave it at that.

Is it weird for you to listen to music made by your peers? Is that something you do?
No! Of course I listen. I’m a fan of music before anything. Whenever Eminem drops something, I got to go get it. Whenever Jay drops something, Kanye, whenever Wayne, there’s a few people. You mentioned Chance the Rapper, Kendrick, Anderson .Paak, Dr. Dre., Bun B of UGK. So many. Meek Mill. There’s so many people who whenever they drop something I’m going to make it my business to go listen to it.

When you did “Bring Em Out,” did you know it would be played at sporting events for the rest of your life?
Nah, I did not. I had no idea. That was Swizz Beatz’s vision. I had no idea.

Do you agree with me that “Why You Wanna” is the best T.I. song ever?
[Laughs] I will not disagree with you. It’s hard to—for me they’re all like my children, they’re all like my babies. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite.